Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A First Thyme for Everything

Pardon the pun, but I'm excited to share that today, for the first time in my life, I used a fresh herb in some food. And it just happened to be thyme!

Making it almost 30 years without ever using fresh herbs may sound completely insane to your average home-cook, but for some reason, these things have just somehow never been on my radar screen. Not only am I pretty new to preparing fresh food in general, but I don't remember ever seeing a fresh herb in my house growing up. Sure, I've seen them in the grocery store, but I've always just passed them by, knowing that if I bought them, they'd be doomed to rot away at the back of the fridge.

I'm glad to say that all that has changed due to the easy indoor herb garden I started just a few short weeks ago. I've never had a green thumb or known what to do with plants, but I am capable of pouring water on dehydrated, fertilized soil bricks and sprinkling seeds on top, so my fragrant little windowsill forest came out a success:


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The fresh thyme I harvested today is currently hanging out in the Crock Pot along with some veggies waiting to become broccoli cheddar soup (adapted from a cauliflower soup recipe in Leanne Ely's Saving Dinner the Low Carb Way). Broccoli Cheddar Soup is one of my favorite menu items at Panera, but did you know that a 12oz. serving of the stuff has 24 carbs and contains wheat, processed cheese, and modified cornstarch?! Hopefully this homemade version will fill the void.